Music, and just about everything else, was overshadowed by the terrorist attacks against America on September 11, 2001. But now, over 6 years on, we can look back at the music that defined 2001 with a clear mind. And there was a lot to love. It was an important year for music, if only for the fact that it would be the last one before America was thrust into war. Songwriters had not yet begun to consider the new world in which we live.

2001 was the start of a new millennium and music was supposed to be created by robots and machines. Instruments would be played by simply thinking. Although these futuristic predictions did not come true, computers and technology did have a significant impact. Music continued to branch out in 2001, with room for more styles than ever before, and artists became empowered by home recording technology and the Internet.

This playlist includes 6 and 1/2 hours of the very best music released in 2001 as selected by consensus among the world of music criticism.

Like many sub-genres of music, Jump Blues can be hard to pin down. There's a good deal of overlap with big band, swing and blues. There is  disagreement on particular songs and artists, but I have done my best to represent the genre in this 21 track playlist.

With it's birth in the 1940's, Jump Blues is marked by up-tempo numbers and big band influence, but was usually performed with bands of a much smaller size. Upright bass and drums usually laid the foundation, while a new-fangled invention called the electric guitar was used mainly as a rhythm instrument. Piano was also present in both a rhythm and lead role, while saxophones or brass horns helped punctuate the songs. Vocals were decidedly bluesy, but would also include shouted vocal lines ala Big Band and Swing.

The "Jump" comes from the up-tempo, driving rhythms that literally made the listener want to jump up and dance. As with most great American musical forms, African-Americans take the credit for the birth of Jump Blues and

The automobile and the motorcycle have inspired a seemingly endless stream of songs in popular music. The "roadtrip playlist" is one that's popular even among "non-playlisting" types. When a long car trip is planned, it makes sense to create a mix tape that can keep you entertained on the drive.

I've been driving a lot lately. From North Carolina to North Eastern Pennsylvania to Providence, RI, to Cape Cod and back again. The traveling got me thinking about creating my own "ultimate roadtrip playlist" and inspired this list. I had a only a few requirements for selecting each song.

1. They had to be excellent songs to keep interest up and help the time pass
2. They had to be about the road, the automobile or driving in general
3. Mellow songs were allowed, but not too many in a row to prevent sleeping at the wheel

That's it. It took me quite some time to come up with the final list, but was worth the effort. The end result is over four hours of music that will make the time go by much

If you've been reading the Y! Music Playlist Blog for any amount of time, you're probably aware that I'm fascinated with songs about death.  Whether it's the fear of death, or suicide, or murder, or car accidents, it's a subject that's a powerful foundation for the songwriter.

Everyone ponders mortality, and a song can express what words alone cannot when it comes to the eternal repose. I can dig any genre of music you could throw at me, but at my core, I'm a child of the modern rock or "alternative rock" movement born of the 1980s. It's just what I happened to listen to during my impressionable years before my musical tastes expanded to present levels.

What better way to celebrate my alternative rock roots and fascination with "death songs" than to create an alternative rock death song playlist? Well, this is it, and the end result includes songs about death, songs inspired by death, or songs that use death as a metaphor. It contains 19 heavyweight alt rock bands like The Pixies,